• Brief synopsis: DODAB is a synthetic lipid with a quaternary ammonium at the headgroup. Due to the positive charge of this group, nucleotides, oligonucleotides and DNA associate to the bilayer. Our aim at this project is to investigate at which extent the fluorescent probe Laurdan can be used to determinate the structure of DODAB vesicles either pure or associated with DNA fragments using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), static and time resolved fluorescence, anisiotropy and ζ-potential.

• Brief synopsis: In this project, we have studied the response of supported DOPC membranes to strain, modelling a cell membrane-cortex dynamical interaction. We have used a microfluidic device to apply strain to bilayer patches. The membrane morphology was analyzed using epifluorescence microscopy and homemade software.